This study aims to provide a more accurate reading and understanding of the history of the modes of reading. It provides an in-depth examination of their first phase in the earliest days and their development throughout their history up until the time of the famous reciter Ibn al-Jazari. The current study shows that the modes of reading were learned from Muhammad and that the companions transmitted them, or at least some of them, to the next generation. Not all modes of reading have reached us. Some are available in books but are not used in reading the Qur'an in practice mainly because they lost the condition of a connected chain of transmitters. Certain events directly affected the modes of reading such as the death of many of the reciters in the Apostasy War during the caliphate of Abu Bakr. This incident led to the notion of writing the Qur'an along with its all modes of reading. The first collection of its kind which took place during Abu Bakr's caliphate was a new concept since the Qur'an had been collected under the order and supervision of Muhammad according to one mode of reading. During the caliphate of Uthman, the modes of reading caused a dispute amongst people from different regions. For this reason the caliph and the companions available at that time, after a consultation, agreed to unite people on one mode of reading and they therefore wrote several copies and distributed them to the main regions of the Muslim world . Since this event, the condition of the compatibility with the Uthmanic codex was introduced. Contrary to common belief, it is demonstrated that there was no difference between the codices written under the order of Uthman. In this research, an emphasis is placed on the period between the collection during Uthman's caliphate and the time of Ibn Mujahid. This provides an insight into the historical development of the modes of reading. This study reflects and sheds light on the contributions of the most influential reciters Ibn Mujahid, al-Dani, and Ibn al-Jazari. Also this research addresses the controversial matter of irregularity and its relationship with the Qur'an. By analysing the term (tawatur), it is concluded that this term should not be used to differentiate between what is Qur'an and what is not. Therefore, a more positive attitude towards irregular modes of reading is achieved

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This thesis is a comparative study between Hermeneutics on the one hand and exegesis of the Holy Qur'an on the other. Its objective is to discover whether there are salient points of convergence between the two disciples, and whether issues germane to the Hermeneutical tradition in the West have been referred to and/or employed in Muslim works of Qur'an commentary. To this end, the works of one of the most prominent Shi'ite philosophers and exegetes. Allama Mohammad Hossein Tabataei, have been analysed and compared with the perspective and methodology of E D. Hirsch, one of the most important hermeneuticians in the Western World. Hirsch has been chosen since, in the opinion of the author, there is a considerable number of commonalities between the Hirschian approach to hermeneutics and the exegetical methodology of Tabatabaei and other Shi'ite Muslim interpreters of the Qur'an.. Hirsch, as an objectivist, along with a number of other Hermeneutical scholars, are critical of those who subscribe to philosophical Hermeneutics, such as Heideger and Gadimer. The same approach is taken in Tabatabaei's works, thus providing a strong rationale for an academic comparison of these two scholars. For this reason, this thesis attempts to study the theories of Tabatabaei and Hirsch in order to highlight the similarities and differences in their works. The central hypothesis is that while small differences in approach exist, there is much common ground, and that it is possible to use certain facets of Hirschian hermeneutics in the interpretation of the Qur'an, thus modernising some of the existing exegetical approaches employed by Shi'ite scholars.Since the aim of this thesis is to compare the interpretive works of Tabatabaei with those of Hirsch's, an introductory chapter has been dedicated to the study of the evolution of Shi'ite exegesis from the beginning to date. Tabatabaei's Al-Mizan has been chosen as the foremost work of Shi'ite exegesis in the modem period. Furthermore, a complete chapter has also been dedicated to Tabatabai's exegetical modus operandi as reflected in Al-Mizan, in order to arrive at a better understanding of his perspectives. This research arrives at the conclusion that philosophical Hermeneutics and Epistemology have opened new horizons on which we will always be dependent. Whatever interpretive theories with regards to the understanding of the text are accepted, or whatever the tendency as far as literary criticism is concerned, or whatever ideas are accepted in the arena of philosophy of human and social sciences, the discussion of the nature of understanding in general cannot be avoided. This does not mean that Hermeneutics is limited to these new theories. Rather, the opportunity always exists to introduce new interpretive theories in connection with the understanding of the text. It is indeed possible to study these discussions in detail in a separate sphere independent of the other branches of Islamic sciences and arrive at a number of stable principles in the interpretation of the text in Islamic research.

The Qur'an is at the heart of Islamic culture. Careful, well-informed interpretation of it is fundamental both to the faith of millions of Muslims throughout the world, and also to the non-Islamic world's understanding of their religion. There is a long and venerable tradition of Qur'anic interpretation, and it has necessarily been based on literary-historical methods for exegesis of hand-written and printed text. Developments in electronic text representation and analysis since the second half of the twentieth century now offer the opportunity to supplement traditional techniques by applying the newly-emergent computational technology of exploratory multivariate analysis to interpretation of the Qur'an. The general aim of the present discussion is to take up that opportunity. Specifically, the discussion develops and applies a methodology for discovering the thematic structure of the Qur'an based on a fundamental idea in a range of computationally oriented disciplines: that, with respect to some collection of texts, the lexical frequency profiles of the individual texts are a good indicator of their semantic content, and thus provide a reliable criterion for their conceptual categorization relative to one another. This idea is applied to the discovery of thematic interrelationships among the suras that constitute the Qur'an by abstracting lexical frequency data from them and then analyzing that data using exploratory multivariate methods in the hope that this will generate hypotheses about the thematic structure of the Qur'an. The discussion is in eight main parts. The first part introduces the discussion. The second gives an overview of the structure and thematic content of the Qur'an and of the tradition of Qur'anic scholarship devoted to its interpretation. The third part xvi defines the research question to be addressed together with a methodology for doing so. The fourth reviews the existing literature on the research question. The fifth outlines general principles of data creation and applies them to creation of the data on which the analysis of the Qur'an in this study is based. The sixth outlines general principles of exploratory multivariate analysis, describes in detail the analytical methods selected for use, and applies them to the data created in part five. The seventh part interprets the results of the analyses conducted in part six with reference to the existing results in Qur'anic interpretation described in part two. And, finally, the eighth part draws conclusions relative to the research question and identifies directions along which the work presented in this study can be developed.

This thesis explores paradigms of the Qur'anic concept of 'self and 'human nature' in the ontological and hermeneutic works of selected contemporary and medieval writers and in the Islamic thought. Among the main themes of the thesis are: (i) the contrast between the humanitarian values projected in the Qur'an and the enigmatic interpretation of the Qur'an which tends to vitiate these values; (ii) the contrast between the respect for human life and human dignity, commensurate with human disposition recognised by Islam, and the radicalised ideology; (iii) the contrast between the code of living devised by Islam at the individual and social levels and the parochial juristic–political outlook. The thesis investigates the distortions concerning the Islamic concepts of Jihad, democracy and tolerance of other faiths. It traces the historic roots of the insurgent groups, evolving into violent extremism, which threatens in modem world the global security through indiscriminate bloodshed and terrorism in the name of Jihad. The treatment of women in Muslim societies has attracted in recent years a barrage of criticism against Islam. This is examined from the exegetical and extra-exegetical sources. The thesis probes into the conflict between the Muslim rationalists and the traditionalists and between the philosophers and the traditionalists on the controversy over emanation and responsibility for human actions. This research is topical in the wake of the 9/11 and 7/7 catastrophes and in the light of the dilemma facing the Muslims in the West. The juristic dictum over the qualification of religio-political leadership of the community and the implementation of the Shari'ah are investigated; and the attitude in the West in fomenting extremism among Muslims is explored. This research, for the first time in a Western University, examines two major Qur'anic exegeses, and correlates these writings to the exceptional, contemporary, burning issues of the day.

This thesis aims to provide an in-depth study of the Makkan and Madinan revelations of the Qur'dn in terms of structure, themes, linguistic, stylistic and textual analysis of the sikas. The main objective of these analyses is to make the contents of the Qur'dn more accessible and easy to understand by the modem reader. Most importantly, the present study focuses on pivotal themes of the Qur'dn. Firstly to represent the context in which the revelations took place, an account of the historical background of the two towns Makka and Madina at the time of the Prophet himself is given. Also, the present study provides details on the inhabitants of these towns who were the main addressees of the Makkan and Madinan revelations. An overview of the Prophet Mubammad as an individuaL his tribal origins, and his social life in Makka until he got married and before his Message has also been given. The present discussion presents the Qur'dn in terms of its composition and its status as a Holy Scripture, compared to the previous other two Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments. Thus, an insight into the Makkan suras has been provided: Outlines of its structure, themes, peculiarities, and textual analysis in terms of tenets of faith of some selected Makkan saras have been dealt with. Similarly, an insight into the Madinan sugras has also been provided along with structural, thematic and textual analysis of some selected Madinan sdras. Other concepts such as the 'coherence in the Qur'dn', 'nazm in the Qur'an' and 'ijaz al-Qur'an which are looked at in terms of conceptual chaining between adjacent suras and ayas have been developed in this study. Throughout our analysis of the Qur'dn, our aim is to deal with its suras and their classifications according to the descending order from the longest sura to the shortest ones rather than in terms of its chronological order of revelation. The present thesis provides intriguing comparative and contrastive analyses of the Makkan and Madinan suras from Muslim and non-Muslim perspectives. This study also provides 28 highly valuable observations about the study of the two phases of revelation. This provides a new insight into the analysis of the Qur'an and it points out a new direction in the analysis of Makkan and Madinan revelations. My approach has thus become different from classical classification of the suras. It is now based on suras structure, themes, text linguistics, etc.

The present study covers the causes of victory and defeat in the light of chapter eight of the Holy Qur'an. It has been prompted by the current situation facing Muslims in many parts of the world, which is characterized by despair, reversals and loss, This study is thus reflexive in nature. In order to obtain a satisfactory response to this predicament, the relevant text in addition to several of its commentaries were scrutinized. The latter search remained unsatisfactory since their focus of inquiry was merely exegetical and failed to reveal any didactic element, which is crucial for obtaining guidance. This work has successfully managed to deduce this aspect from the text which amplifies the importance of extensive sacrifice for gaining glory. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic studies)

The present study covers the causes of victory and defeat in the light of chapter eight of the Holy Qur'an. It has been prompted by the current situation facing Muslims in many parts of the world, which is characterized by despair, reversals and loss, This study is thus reflexive in nature. In order to obtain a satisfactory response to this predicament, the relevant text in addition to several of its commentaries were scrutinized. The latter search remained unsatisfactory since their focus of inquiry was merely exegetical and failed to reveal any didactic element, which is crucial for obtaining guidance. This work has successfully managed to deduce this aspect from the text which amplifies the importance of extensive sacrifice for gaining glory. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic studies)